I'd like to list all the reasons I'd prefer Gerwig and Netflix to do The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and all the reasons I'd prefer them to do The Magician's Nephew. (I know some fans want The Silver Chair. Suffice to say, I don't.) Maybe this would be better in another thread, but it has a lot to do with this new quote from Gerwig, so it feels more natural to me here. I hope the moderators are fine with it. 

Reasons to do The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

It seems like at this point in her career, Gerwig wants her movies to be meta-commentaries on stuff. Her Little Women is both an adaptation of the book by Louisa May Alcott and a commentary on it and I've heard through the grapevine that The Barbie Movie is something of a commentary on the Barbie brand. (Perhaps some of you will disagree with that?) Any Narnia movie she makes will probably be more her thoughts about the book than it will be the actual book as written. (Actually, you could say the same thing about any adaptation, including the three Narnia ones Walden Media made. I'd say it's truer of Gerwig's Little Women and similar adaptations though.) She also seems like she has an ardent fanbase who will blindly accept whatever her "commentary" says without reading the books themselves and coming to their own opinions. (That seems to be what's happening with Little Women and Barbie.) That doesn't have to be a bad thing. I'd argue the Little Women fandom should be grateful to her for it since her movie adaptation was a more accurate representation of the text in many ways than previous ones and may have gone some way toward clearing up misconceptions in the public mind. But it can also be really annoying. Think of all the Philip Pullman fans and Neil Gaiman fans who believe that Susan went to Hell for liking lipstick. Michael Ward kind of annoys me for similar reasons and probably more of his fans read the Narnia books after reading him then there will be Greta Gerwig fans who read the Narnia books after watching her adaptations. However, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, like Little Women, is the book in its series that most people will have read or have some idea of the plot at least, so I have fewer worries about an "adaptation as commentaries" giving people a wrong idea of it. Who knows? Maybe what I wrote about Gerwig's Little Women counteracting misconceptions of the source material will be true of an LWW by her too. (I can't really think of any common misconceptions about that book off the top of my head but maybe there are some.) 

Along similar lines, LWW has been adapted as a television serial, two radio dramas, a made-for-TV animated movie and a live action theatrically released movie. Like Little Women, I'm fairly openminded about an "adaptation as commentary" because there are enough straight adaptations on which I can fall back. In fact, I'd be interested in seeing a good "commentary." (Of course, it could be a bad commentary but, hey, a straight adaptation could be bad too.) 

Also, while most people, as I've said, will have already be familiar with the broad story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there will always be few who aren't and I'd rather they experience it before they do the story of The Magician's Nephew.

Reasons to do The Magician's Nephew

This book just makes more sense to me as a Greta Gerwig vehicle than LWW. The main character is very angsty. It deals with family relationships. It's somewhat intellectually patterned with its three contrasting worlds. OK, it's not the perfect fit for Gerwig but I don't think any of the other Narnia books are either. Beggars can't be choosers. 

We can tell from the quote part of what captures her imagination about the story, the idea of the Wood Between the Worlds. Granted she's using it to say that there are lots of things about Narnia, including the other books. Maybe when she references them specifically, I'll decide her take on those is more interesting and want her to adapt them. But, as of now, this just sounds like where her mind is drawn and so the most obvious choice. She also seems like someone who's really interested in writing and the creative process and apparently, she connects the Wood Between the Worlds with that. Again, obvious choice.

I can kind of imagine what her "commentary" on this book would be. In her Little Women, she arguably implied that the happy parts of the book were wish fulfillment on the part of the author. There's a good case to be made that parts of The Magician's Nephew were also wish fulfillment for C. S. Lewis. (Gerwig seems like she's interested in deconstructing childhood nostalgia.) Like I wrote above, it would annoy me that the only non-radio adaptation of this book we get is like that but at least I could understand how it would fit in with Gerwig's other movies. I can't really understand what draws her to doing an adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Using her simile of the Wood Between the Worlds (because I really like it), I'm like Polly in this situation. I don't want to jump into a pool without having an idea of what kind of world is at the bottom. Again, maybe when she mentions things from the other Narnia books, I'll decide her take on those sounds more interesting and want to see her adapt them. But if we wait until then to express our opinions, this forum will be pretty quiet. 

Finally, I really, really want to see a movie adaptation of The Magician's Nephew. Not only is it a favorite of mine but I think it has a lot of potential for the visual medium of cinema. So, if Netflix does LWW instead, I'll be more relieved since a bad adaptation would of that book would annoy me less, but I'll also be more disappointed since a good adaptation would delight me less. 

Posted by: @anfinwen

Regardless of what it means, I'd like to point out what an apt and accurate description that was of the Wood Between the Worlds. She was familiar enough with it to accurately use it in a personal example spur of the moment. I like that. It was kind of funny, because listening to the audio, she kind of stutters and hesitates whether to use the example she obviously has in her mind. I wonder if she was afraid of being too nerdy, or giving something away, or just confusing the interviewer with an obscure reference. 

This is a great point. It's demonstrably clear that she's quite familiar with MN, given her on-point reference and summery of the Wood Between the Worlds. Regardless of if The Magician's Nephew is first, it's reassuring to know we have a creative involved who knows the stories.

Posted by: @reepicheep775

It's also refreshing that it seems like she is being given time to let her ideas grow organically instead of being rushed to meet a deadline.

Reading this now with Scott Stuber's recent comments about filming in the next year made me laugh 😆 

Posted by: @impending-doom

This is a great point. It's demonstrably clear that she's quite familiar with MN, given her on-point reference and summery of the Wood Between the Worlds. Regardless of if The Magician's Nephew is first, it's reassuring to know we have a creative involved who knows the stories.

My thoughts exactly! I know Gerwig is a controversial director right now, but I'm mainly glad that she obviously cares about the books (at least enough to read them lol). 

It's still too early to make a verdict on the likelihood of a good adaptation. I just hate to see her being written off as a destined failure because of politics or the prevailing "Netflix is trash" attitude.